Birthday Boy!

Hugo is One!

Today was Hugo’s Birthday.

Aoife was the very best big sister. She made Hugo’s birthday cake:

She helped unwrap presents:

and most touching of all she wrote two cards for Hugo. The sweetest one said “Wish Come True” – that was her description of Hugo.

Berlin Panoramas

First the view from my hotel on Potsdamer Platz looking East.

Second; a view of the only real surviving part of the Berlin Wall. This is on Niederkirchnerstraße just East of the Potsdamer Platz and just west of what was Checkpoint Charlie.

Baking in Utah

Every year we need to look up the right directions for baking at 5000 feet above sea level.

Here’s the blog post so we can remember for next year. This taken from http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/kitchentips/cooking_altitude.html

High Altitude Baking & Cooking

Collapsing cakes, overflowing batters, brittle cookies: If you live at an altitude of 3,000 feet or higher, you may have experienced these problems.

At high altitudes, lower air pressure and generally lower humidity cause liquids to evaporate more rapidly. These conditions allow baked goods to rise more easily and lose moisture faster. Rapid rising can make gas bubbles coalesce, resulting in a course texture. In extreme cases, it can cause batters to overflow the pan because they have not set-up sufficiently, or rupture cell walls resulting in collapse. Rapid evaporation concentrates the sugars in a recipe and makes the product prone to sticking to the pan.

Cakes are most vulnerable to these phenomena because of their delicate balance of liquids and sugars though other recipes can be affected as well. Unfortunately, there is no one simple set of rules that can accommodate every situation but here are some general guidelines followed by recipe-specific tips.

General Guidelines

Many recipes will work well at high altitudes so always try a new recipe as is before you contemplate making adjustments. Remember that a collapsed cake — while it doesn’t look very good, usually tastes just fine.

If a recipe does fail, you can then make one or more of the following adjustments on your next attempt.

Berlin

I was in Berlin last weekend – on Monday I had a late start, so I took the chance to walk miles and look at the old Soviet zone/DDR.

It was very humbling to see where the Berlin Wall stood until just a few years ago; I clearly remember the events of late 1989.

In many areas there are stones and cobbles in the road showing where the wall used to run.

More photos later.

Pumpkins

Last year Aoife’s class went on a field trip to the Pumpkin Patch. The date had to be changed due to bad weather and so when it was rescheduled I couldn’t make it due to a midwife appointment. Little did I know it would be my last one.

Look at how little Aoife was then.

This year she was really pleased to take Hugo on the field trip. We tried to get a good picture of the pair of them, but with the very bright sun and a wriggly Hugo it was pretty tough. There were some nice ones though.

Bob the Builder to Ballerina

Aoife started off the afternoon as Bob the Builder. She then turned into a beautiful ballerina.

At least she is well rounded and not just all ‘girly’!

Reading to Aoife

One of Grandpa and Grandma’s neighbours has been talking about how important it is to read to your children; it’s been all over the BBC news this morning:

There needs to be “a national revolution” in children’s reading at school and at home, says England’s Schools Secretary, Ed Balls.

A book at bedtime should be as much a part of the daily routine as brushing a child’s teeth, Mr Balls said.

Just 10 minutes of reading a day could make a difference to a child’s future by instilling a love of books, he said.

It’s a good job Aoife loves reading. Between her and Hugo they have hundreds of books – and she really enjoys having books at bedtime. If she’s good she gets three; if she’s been naughty then she’s really upset to only have one.

Tie this to Grania’s post about Aoife reading and spelling and I’ll bet she’s reading properly to Hugo by Christmas.